An Interprofessional Approach to Teaching Patient Centred Care: A Workshop Review

Abstract

The principal goal of interprofessional education is to cultivate collaborative practice in order to provide client and/or patient centered care (PCC). In the field of radiation oncology, the care of the cancer patient is the focus of both the radiation oncologist and the radiation therapist. Thus, by bringing together these two professions in a workshop that focuses on identifying and respecting the patient's perspective and tailoring the care we provide to enhance the patient’s experience, they will learn from and about each other to improve collaboration and quality of care. A two hour interactive PCC workshop was designed and delivered to 16 third-year radiation therapy students and 6 first year radiation oncology residents. The workshop included a brief didactic component to provide a base knowledge of PCC definitions, values, dimensions and stakeholders. Small mixed group activities, use of multi-media, and imagery were used to explore PCC values in action, and to stimulate further larger group discussions. A workshop evaluation was completed by all participants. The anonymous responses were collated and analyzed for the purpose of future workshop improvement. The interprofessional approach to learning PCC benefited the participants by allowing the sharing of ideas and thoughts, and by highlighting each profession and individual’s perspective on their practice, along with the barriers. However, the facilitators were concerned that an interprofessional group setting may result in a sense of professional vulnerability that may hinder in-depth discussion unique to each profession. The PCC workshop was received well by both professional groups. Based on feedback provided, there are plans to increase the length of the workshop, and include more practice-specific exercises.